Joint analysis of current status and marker data: an extension of a bivariate threshold model.

This paper considers joint analysis of current status and marker data using a threshold model based on first hitting times. A failure time is defined as the time at which a subject's latent health status process first decreases to zero. We extend the bivariate Wiener process model in Whitmore et al. (1998) to the case when only current status data are available. We develop maximum likelihood estimation procedures and provide simulation studies. We apply our methods to a motivating example involving liver tumors in mice.